Blueslily

Happy November! It's been a while since I checked in since I missed our 6 month check in. Rolling into fall was hectic at work for me and I was exhausted at home afterwards. But, I won't miss Month 7. Happy Surgerversary to my fellow Sleevers and my April 6 surgery twins. I think there are 4 of us on here. I'm doing good overall. I never had a true goal weight, but I am 20 pounds lower that what the dietitian thought I might be able to lose, but that was a very brief comment made during pre-OP appts. My focus was health not a specific number on the scale. But, I will share that I do weigh daily on my scale every morning just to see what's happening. Emotionally this is not taxing for me. I do not recommend that for people who had a specific goal weight number and are distressed by the scale. I have even more uplifting milestones than what a scale can offer me. Like I need to get my ring resized before it falls off in public somewhere. Never had to do that so I've been procrastinating on figuring out what I need to do for that. But, I get its super easy. Lol. Last weekend I had to gut my closet of my entire fall and winter attire. The prior week was cold and I didn't have any pants at all that fit. The closet is still a mess as I toss sweaters, baggy Jean's, etc. Shopping during the summer was fun and I loved it. But, I dont like cold or winter, so I procrastinated. Shoes are lose as well so I need some winter shoes. I kind of view winter clothes as more expensive than summer, another reason I procrastinated. I'm grateful for sure, just not thrilled about the expense for a season I don't enjoy. So, those are non-scale victories. I'm doing ok food wise, BUT I noticed in October that my restriction is less. Oh, that scares me. I don't want that at just 6-7 months. I also had grazing episodes in October. That scared me even more. I don't eat off plan. My grazing was with fruits, veggies, cheese sticks, and almonds. But, still, it scares me. I haven't cheated in terms of sugar, carbs, soda, etc. I'm proud of myself for that, but dont want less restriction or grazing urges. Also, water intake declined at work last month due to mainly distractions being busy and honestly not having any thirst that even triggered a thought to drink anything. I still only drink water. No juices or soda, plus I'm not a coffee or tea drinker so I'm just water. I try to make up when I get home, but I know that's not good. I'm at a point that I just want to maintain my current weight orsize. I literally just stepped on the scale before typing this sentence. I'm only .6 ounces from an even weight that I can live with. If I dip maybe 2 pounds down, I'm good. I don't want to be tiny. I'm purposely not sharing a number because I dont want to trigger anyone. Monday night I opened a plastic totem of clothes that has clothes from like 10 years ago when I was smaller. Everything except two items fit. It was an awesome Monday night. The two things that did not fit were too big. I'm good here. I'm happy to go down maybe two more because I expect maybe a 3-5 pound fluctuation during maintenance so I want some wiggle room. What I'm not doing good at all? I'm not weight training or strength training. Ugh! Walking, i love. But, i just haven't done what I'm supposed to do with this area. I know i need to but i just get no pleasure from the thought of that weight stuff. Help! Man, long message. I wish all the best to everyone. Would love to hear from folks. Please dont compare your journey to anyone else. If you are a newbie here to the WLS journey, please know that it gets easier around Month 2 post surgery. The first few days will certainly be a challenge. You just had surgery. The first month will be a different experience for you than life before surgery. But as you get into your flow past Month 2, it's not that bad. For me, it's not bad at all. I don't miss the bad stuff I ate. I don't feel like I'm suffering in life. I'm not food deprived. I love having restriction. I don't have any longterm medical issues from the sleeve. You will read a range of horror stories and pleasant stories. Experiences fall on a huge continuum. My experience is just mine. Your experience will be your experience. Be clear about why you are doing this. It is not an easy fix at all. It takes commitment and clarity. All the best to everyone.

Oh, I can certainly relate to having a busy schedule. I'm wondering if food prepping on one day that you have a little bit more time will allow you to prepare some easy protein options. I had to make food prep a priority. Then the other hard part was making actually eating the food a priority when I'm at work. Now that I have gotten into the swing of both, it's a new habit that I prepare on an off day and I eat. Lite proteins should not slow your weight loss. Lite, easy to eat proteins when you're busy might help your loss and your body as well. Just a thought. Sometimes I just eat a cheese stick when driving to or from work. Simple and no prep needed. As I mentioned in my other post, I use edamame as a very simple protein Boost. I buy them frozen so prep is so easy and hardly takes any time. They last when at work so I can grab a few when I have a couple minutes available. Hope your protein intake improves 🙂

Hi there Flounder, Congrats on your progress and making it to the 200s!! 👍🤗 Are you able to eat any other protein sources other than the protein shakes at this point? Is your stomach not accepting other proteins? I eat edamame as a protein boost for some meals. Maybe your tummy will be ok with that if it is not accepting other options.

Congrats on your weight loss! Sorry to hear about that intense heartburn. Does your program have any recommendations for how to prevent this? Was it due to any specific food or eating pattern? Hope that gets better. I need to work on arm and leg toning also. I'm glad it's not as bad as I've heard it can be. All the best for getting to your goal weight! You are so close 🙂🤞👍

Awesome to hear that your heartburn is gone! Thats huge! Eggs were hit or miss for me in taking a break from them now. Congrats on your weight loss. And I can relate to the fun of unpacking a totem at the bottom of the closet and going "shopping". Woohoo! This weekend, I think I will be removing some larger items from my closet 🌞 I have mixed feeling a out that though. I have some nice items that now look like clown suits on me, hahaha. Glad that you are happy about your surgery! Have a great weekend!

Great news a out your A1c. Congrats! It's great that you can kick that medication to the curb. So, guess what. I typed my post this morning before I weighed. When getting ready for work, I weighed myself and my stall was broken! Honestly though, I thought the scale was messing with me when I saw the new number. LoL. You all brought me good luck, lol. 🤣 I know it doesnt work that way. I dont really change much except watch water intake and walking when I get a stall. They are so normative during this process that I accept them. I'm not racing to a finish line, so I'm not pressed for fast losing. Just safe and healthy weight loss is my goal. Hmm, I want consistent loss also, to be honest, but I'm ok if my body needs a week of stabilizing before we drop down again. Plus, I just hope the slower pace will help me not have as much loose skin. So far, that's not a huge problem. I noticed some areas that I'm wondering what will happen when I lose more weight in those two areas. So, I definitely need to get on tonight and strengthening. Thanks so much for sharing your update and your kind comment a bit me keeping our thread going. Thanks for being here. 🤗

Hi there, congrats to you as well. I was hoping to add strength training as I want to work on toning my arms. Your post inspires me to go ahead and add that. 😃🌞

Hi there! Congrats on your weight loss. Roller coaster is a great way to describe the process. Continue having fun with the clothes experience. 🙂

Congrats, congrats! Glad to hear that you're doing awesome. I hope the fatigue experience shifts soon. Again, congrats! And thanks for sharing your update. 🙂👍

Hello April Sleevers, We hit another month mark this week. It's been four months for some of us. Just wanted to reach out to ask how everyone is doing. I'm coping with a stall, but I understand that happens at times during this process. Will work on increasing water and exercise this weekend to see if that helps shake it. Enjoyed trying on smaller clothes. First time I really bought clothes during this process versus shopping in my own closet was fun but confusing. Trying to figure out which clothing size I really am right now. Hope you're doing ok.🙂

Thanks so much for the information. Did your surgeon say why he wanted people to switch from using the patch after the first month?

Ok. Sounds good Is it the same patch? Patch MD Multivitamin? I would really like to use a patch if it really works as good as oral options. That's what I wanted from the very beginning.

Glad the patch works for you. I asked my surgeon and dietitian about the patch right before surgery and again after. Received the same response both times - NO. They say the patches dont have enough of what I need. Ugh. But, at this point, I really want a patch. So, I'm going to do more research about them and see how they compare. Pill form is just a nuisance so far I'm spending money on different options and so far, none work. Thanks!

Congrats, congrats! Is seafood like shrimp ok for your stomach? Can you eat ground turkey or turkey with a sauce that makes it moist? This weekend I'm going to check to see what size I really am now, lol. Have no clue. Just know my clothes are too big and I find ways to make them look smaller. I was going to go through some older, smaller clothes last weekend, but got lazy. Hahaha. Will try this weekend since it's a long holiday weekend.

Huge congrats! I'm sure 3 weeks was frustrating. Happy for you! Good luck.

Thanks. I will see if they have a sample pack that I can order to try. Thanks!

Thanks for the info. I tried the crushed option and hmm, nasty also. Will look into pills I can just cut in half and swallow though since I'm advised against swallowing big pills right now. How are you doing?

Hello everyone, I'm writing to ask for your help. I still have not found a daily multivitamin that works for me. My program recommended that we use chewable for the first 2 months, starting after 2 weeks. So, at Week 3 I started the Bariatric Fusion chewable. My tummy did not like the first kind I had. So, I ordered a different flavor. Stomach was ok with second flavor, but I hated the chalky taste. I talked with my program about it at my 2 month follow up. I could move to capsules. So, I ordered capsules from Bariatric Fusion. I was already using a supplemental vitamin from them and just adding it to my protein shake. That was working from the 1 month mark. So, I got the multivitamin in a capsule, added it to a protein shake, oh no. Totally horrible. The multivitamin stinks like crazy and is so nasty. Odd, because the supplement is fine. So, before I spend even more money on multivitamin option #4, I'm writing to ask what is working for you all. What are you using that is not upsetting to your tummy and goes down easy. My program does not want me swallowing any large pills until month 4 so that's part of this adventure also. I can't just buy a multivitamin that comes in big pill form and they say it must be bariatric specific, not just a regular multivitamin. I'm considering Barimelts next. Just tired of wasting money. Plus, scared of the impact of not consistently taking vitamins so far. Bloodwork is not until Month 4 check up. I feel fine. Just want to be doing the right things during this journey. Thanks!

Oh, wanted to say again that I'm still enjoying food costing a lot less. I totally buy smaller quantities for a week since portion sizes are smaller. Protein drinks after the 2 month mark isn't that expensive either since I'm not drinking as many compared to the first few weeks post-surgery when we aren't eating real food. I only drink one protein drink a day and I don't use protein powder anymore so that expense is gone also. My dietitian wants me getting protein from real food, and I usually meet my goals. So, overall, groceries and any prepared foods I do buy are definitely less expensive now than all the food I used to buy in a week before surgery. Woohoo!

Hello April Sleevers, We are getting ready to close out another month. How's everyone doing? Any great non-scale victories? This weekend, I might try on a few of my older clothes that I had tucked away and do some shopping in my own closet again this weekend. Some clothes that I wore to work recently were looking a bit frumpy. Still trying not to buy clothes. So, will dig around in the closet again this weekend to find some smaller sizes. 😃 Walking was better this week. Water intake got better recently, but then dipped down the past couple days again so increasing my water intake is a goal this weekend. How's everyone doing? Have a great weekend everyone!

Hi there, Hope your stall has moved along now. And, you were right, a stall at that point is normative. Lots of postings about similar experiences at that point on this site. 🙂

Glad to hear that you are doing better. When can you start veggies?

Hello April Sleevers, How's everyone doing? During the past week, I had my first experience with dizziness. The first time I just figured I moved too quickly and didn't really associate it with WLS. But, when it happened again a week later and was in two settings, I figured it out. Spent the weekend increasing water intake. I meet with my team tomorrow. I'm ok. Just a couple brief moments mainly when transitioning quickly in bed. Anyone have any exciting non-scale victories lately? Yesterday I put on clothes for work and looked like a clown because it was falling all off me, lol. That was exciting 🙂 I hit my first stall last week. But, probably my fault due to not getting in all my water the past couple weeks while at work. Still working on increasing water intake during busy days at work. Water at home is easy. At work, I'm just in go, go, go mode. Ugh. I will keep working on it.

My plan allowed fresh fruit starting at Week 8. I was fine with waiting until then. I had been focused on protein for meals since I only could eat 2 ounces per meal. I'm not a smoothie person so I wasn't mixing in a little fruit in those prior to Week 8. I mainly eat whole foods versus stuff mixed together. I think I must be a simple eater, lol. My lack of BMs recently improved by eating fiber chews. (Thank you sleevers who shared about them). Stuff like adding Miralax to my drinks worked when I used it, but I just didnt like that option for frequent or ongoing use. Taking Senokot works also, but I just didnt want to do that frequently either. Fiber chews are simple and easy to add to the day and eating them seems like a treat, hahaha. So far that's the only kind of treat I have. Hahaha. I haven't used any type of candy or treat yet. I'm kind of scared that I might trigger a sugar craving this early on and possibly have to then fight it off. If I need an afternoon snack, I eat a cheese stick or the recently added option of cucumber slices which I enjoy. I mainly need to work on increasing water intake. During the past 2 weeks, I've been so busy at work, that I fall behind with intake during the day and it's hard to make up that slack when I get home at like 6-7pm. It's just not enough time left in the day to get everything in. So, I'm working on being more mindful of water intake during work.

Hi April Sleevers, Some of us are hitting the 2 month mark this week. Congrats! Hope you all are doing well. I ate a tiny bit of salad for the first time and two small bites of watermelon. The salad was chopped into tiny pieces, lol. This is my first time eating raw vegetables and fruit. No problems with either. I kept the salad ingredients simple to test out just a few raw veggies at one time. Just tried a tiny bit. Its watermelon season so I'm hopeful that I can use it as a snack. I know some programs discourage eating fruit due to sugar, but my program allows a little bit of fruit. 🙂 Happy 2nd month surgerversary!!